


It's a lot

by mhunter10



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Cute, Daddy Ian, Daddy Mickey, Domestic, Fluff, Husbands, Implied Mpreg, Kissing, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-05 02:19:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11003943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mhunter10/pseuds/mhunter10
Summary: A short little fic about Ian and Mickey having their first kids after trying for years.





	1. Seven Year Itch

"Want some company?” Ian asks, coming out to the kitchen where Mickey is perched up on the counter.

Mickey scoffs through a cold mouthful of ice cream. He’s got an ice cream sandwich in each hand, both steadily melting blue onto his fingers. “I’ve had built-in company for about eight months now.”

Ian smiles knowing his husband isn’t nearly as annoyed as he sounds. He gets some napkins and wipes the mess from his bare thighs. Mickey still doesn’t care, as he finishes them both; his cheeks bulging out like a hamster. “Then you won’t mind one more.”

“Don’t gotta choice, do I?” Mickey licks his fingers before Ian can get to them. He opens another sandwich and takes a big bite. “Can’t believe she made these things blue.”

Ian chuckles. “It was cute. I think she got it from some DIY pin blog.” Mickey just grunts around the themed desserts designed to reveal the sex of their babies.

“Gender is a construct anyway.”

Ian sighs, rolling his eyes and snagging one of the sandwiches before Mickey finished them off. “Pretty sure the doctor isn’t gonna say ‘Congrats on your two, healthy, made-up societal labels!’”

Mickey shrugs, “They might. There’s been enough gentrification.”

Ian knows what this is. It’s Mickey pretending he’s all put together and has it all figured out. It’s Mickey not wanting to admit something…

Mickey stops eating halfway through his fourth sandwich, pressing a hand to his stomach. He looks down and can only see his shirt stretched over it. He bites his lip, tasting sweetness with a hint of something chemical. Ian tilts his chin up and steps closer, looking him in his eyes. He let’s out the breath he was holding.

“I didn’t think we’d ever get to this point, and now that it’s here…,” Mickey trails off, hoping Ian knows what he’s trying to say.

“It’s a lot, I know. Seven years is a long time to try for anything. But it happened, yeah? It’s what we’ve always wanted and we get lucky with two? That means it was meant to be, Mickey.”

And, yes, Ian’s right. He’s always right…most of the time. Mickey knows it’s a fucking miracle this has even happened, let alone them making it this far. But it’s just…

“Can they hurry up and be then, already?” Mickey half-whines. He falls over onto into Ian’s chest and makes an exhausted noise.

Ian laughs, rubbing his back and sides. “It’s just four more weeks. That’s it. You’ve already been through the battle. It’s just a little bit more and they’ll be here.”

Mickey moans. His gut makes a gurgling sound and he burps. “I want them here now so I can punish them for making me make bad decisions.”

Ian shakes his head with a grin. “The minute you see them, punishment will be the last thing on your mind.”

“Not if they look like your dumb ass,” Mickey teases, picking his head up so he can see Ian’s unamused face.

“You better hope they look like me, or you’re gonna be punished,” Ian grips Mickey’s ass for emphasis and bites at his jaw. Mickey groans at his lame attempt at a joke, but finds his lips for a kiss anyway.

“I want to hold them now…touch their faces, count their toes, all that shit,” Mickey says quietly.

Ian nods. “Me too. Think I’ve been waiting longer than you have,” he admits. He places a hand on Mickey’s stomach between them and feels for any sign of his boys. The sugar should be getting to them, which means Mickey won’t sleep much, which means he won’t sleep much. But he waits patiently until he feels a foot, he doesn’t know which, but it’s there like a light flutter. Mickey hums looking torn between wanting to keep them inside forever and wanting them the fuck out.

“You can do it,” Ian encourages him.

Mickey nods, leaning forward to kiss his husband fully on the mouth. He ignores the movement between them for as long as they let him forget they’re there and have complete control over him.

“Can you help me down?” Mickey asks. He needs the bathroom.

Ian chuckles, “How did you even get up here?”


	2. Twin Peaks

Mickey doesn’t sleep well that night, not that he’s really slept well for a long time, but this night feels the worst. He can’t find a comfortable position no matter what he does. Ian gets him the long firm pillow for his stomach, but it makes it worse. Ian then lies awake too because the only way Mickey feels the tiniest bit better is when Ian’s rubbing his back. There’s a dull ache there that seems to come and go in waves that tickle his insides unpleasantly. His stomach is so heavy, he can barely maneuver, but he does it anyway so he can see Ian’s face. Laying on his right makes his arm hurt because he has to cradle his stomach. He’s angrily kicked from the inside because they don’t like all the restlessness they’re causing.

Mickey wants to laugh or cry or something, but he has no energy. His knees hurt so Ian pulls his leg up to rest on his thigh, and it kind of feels better that way. Mickey sighs, closing his eyes for a minute before his brains sends a jolt through him that he hears a baby crying. He’s read about it, or rather Ian has and told him about it. His brain is practicing waking him up at the slightest hint of noise, real or imagined.

“Stop,” he murmurs to his body, but Ian thinks he means him. He’s always ready and eager to do anything and everything for him. Mickey brings him close by his neck and kisses him. “Not you, okay?”

Ian nods after being sure, starting up his hand again. Mickey can feel him watching him, so he leans in again, catching his lips. He presses his tongue into his mouth and Ian’s hand falters, probably because he can’t believe Mickey seems like he wants to take it further. The wild horniness of before he was too big has been nonexistent these last months, only occasionally affording Ian a handjob or blowjob. And to be honest, tonight is not going to be one of those lucky times, but kissing Ian seems to be relaxing or distracting his body enough. So Ian gets into it, too, kissing Mickey back just as sloppily. It’s hot and comforting. When Mickey can’t breathe anymore, he pulls away, leaving a trail of kisses down Ian’s jaw. Ian makes a sound like he’s holding back a moan, reaching between them to keep his erection from Mickey’s stomach.

The rest of the night is spent with Mickey drifting in and out of sleep. He wakes up at one point early in the morning to find Ian finally asleep, a hand still stretched towards his belly. He waits as long as possible before he has to get up for the bathroom again. Ian immediately stirs like he hadn’t just been snoring, and comes around the bed to help Mickey up. The dull ache is back again and it shoots pain up his spine with every step. He winces, gripping Ian’s hand, but he makes it there. Ian starts the shower so he can get ready for work. Mickey shuffles slowly back to bed even though he knows he won’t sleep without his husband. So, he pulls out his laptop and begins searching for something. He’s not sure why, but online shopping has become an obsession. He barely watches Ian dress and pauses long enough to kiss him goodbye. He tells the boys to behave, which makes Mickey laugh as always.

The day is half gone by the time Mickey shoves himself into his car and goes to the mall. It doesn’t even faze him anymore when people almost break their necks staring. It’s not like he’s the first male pregnancy or the first male multiple pregnancy. But it’s still shocking, he guesses. He waddles and has to sit down and rest a lot, catching his breath from carrying the weight of his world. He eats two pretzels with mustard and people watches for a while until he realizes people are watching him. He takes his bags and heads back to the car because he’s tired and might cry. His back still hurts.

Mandy visits, bringing leftovers and gossip from her restaurant. She helps him reorganize the nursery because he’s done it all fucking wrong somehow. Mickey mostly sits and watches, listening to the drama involved with running a business. He’s proud of her, though, and it makes him happy to see her so excited to be an aunt. He tells her about his anxiousness and she nearly cries. It feels good to have her back around and doing well. However, he doesn’t feel good now. The dull ache has turned to actual pain and it’s fucking persistent. Mandy tries her best to comfort him, rubbing his feet and his back. They take a walk and it helps at first, but it’s worse again by the time she leaves. He attempts a soothing, hot shower but it’s a bad decision. He lays down on the bed, naked and wet. He curls in on himself and breathes slowly. He stays like that for half an hour, feeling waves of pain attack his lower belly.

Mickey calls Ian.

“Hey, Mick. What are the boys thinking for dinner?” He teases.

“Forget the dinner,” Mickey strains out, breathing hard.

“Mickey? What’s—“

“I don’t…it hurts,” is all Mickey can get out before he let’s out a sob.

“I’m coming home.” 

That’s it. That’s all it takes for Ian to be on his way, and Mickey is so glad he cries. He pulls himself together and gets dressed, grabbing his hospital bag.

“Are you guys really doing this?” He asks his stomach. The only answer he gets is a back spasm.

It feels like hours before Ian gets there through evening traffic, but he finally gets there and hugs Mickey close. Mickey cups his face and calms him with kisses through the pain, because he needs for Ian to be his rock. They get to the car and make it to the hospital in time for Mickey’s water to break between the sliding doors. They wheel him to a room and it feels like a whirlwind of activity surrounding him. Mickey keeps his focus on Ian, who’s smiling and encouraging and goofy.

“I got out of there so fast. I think I might have yelled at our rookie,” Ian says. He’s still in his uniform pants, but he’s put a hoodie over his undershirt. He’s seated right next to Mickey in a chair, holding his hand. The contractions have been numbed with legal drugs and now they’re just waiting. Mickey laughs, imagining Ian frantic enough to scare anyone in his way, but he thinks it’s sweet. Ian had promised he would be there no matter what and he hasn’t left his side for a second.

They slowly walk the halls, forcing the process by letting gravity take over. Ian has both hands on his waist the whole time, practically holding him up when it gets to be too much. The hours pass and it seems like it takes forever, but suddenly Mickey’s getting orders to push while Ian counts. His thoughts are all over the place and his heart is pounding in his chest. Ian’s hand holds one of his thighs open, the doctor is saying something he can’t make out, there’s a nurse in his other ear, and he doesn’t think he can go again.

“No, no, c’mon, baby. Don’t stop. Don’t give up, you’re right there!” Ian whispers close to him.

But Mickey wants to stop. He has to. There’s no way. No fucking way.

“Hurts…ahh! Ian, it..hurts…I can’t!” Mickey is gasping for air and his eyes feel heavy. Everything is getting blurry. All he can feel is his insides being strangled and constricted. He’s drenched in sweat and it feels cold and too hot at the same time. “I can’t, Ian…please…”

“Yes you can, Mickey. I know you can do this.” Ian brushes the hair and sweat from his face.

Mickey vaguely realizes the oxygen mask being put over his mouth and nose. It sends a blast right to his lungs and it goes straight to his brain. It makes him feel lightheaded but then his chest doesn’t feel so tight. He takes some deep breaths and cries out. He grips Ian’s hand harder and looks him in his eyes.

“I want them…now…Ian,” he pants, tears stinging his eyes. They’re telling him to push again, now that he’s not losing consciousness.

Ian nods fast, kissing his hand and forehead. “I know. Just a little more and you’ll have them. I promise. I promise you. So push,” Ian says firmly. It lights a fire in his husband and he nods, letting them know he’s ready to go some more. Whatever it takes for their boys.

It’s late. It’s almost the next day, but seven hours later the first one is out; Aleks Jay. Then his brother, Clay Michael, just under a minute so they can fight about it forever. Mickey is a mess and Ian’s face is red with tears. They’re placed on his chest for only a moment to cut their cords, before they’re whisked off to become cuter and less alien. And the room is filled with screams of protest but it’s so beautiful.

“I did it,” Mickey sobs. The cried are real and they don’t stop until they’re back with him because all is right with this strange new world.

“You did,” Ian chokes through a grin. He hasn’t stopped since they called him a dad. “You did this. I love you, I love you so much, Mickey. He’s in complete awe of the man he married. He kisses him all over and kisses their twins; showering his little family with the love they deserve and sparing none.

Mickey looks down at his babies…his sons. They’re identical mixtures of he and Ian from their curly strawberry blond hair to their twenty toes. Aleks is a little bigger but Clay makes more noise, already coming into their own. Their skin feels soft against Mickey’s chest and they smell so amazing.

"I could look at them forever," Mickey says.

Ian hums. "That's all I want to do for the rest of my life."


	3. The Wonder Years

It’s a few days before their eyes are open and clear enough, but there’s no mistaking they have Mickey’s eyes. If it’s even possible they’re even bluer and bolder. Clay’s eyes look green some days and Ian is happy about that. They’re daddy’s boys from the start.

Mandy visits and loves them the minute she sees them. And she’s glad she sees them first because the rest of the Gallaghers pile in and practically smother them until Ian calms them down. He and Mickey are glad for all the help the first couple days, but they’re oddly happier when it becomes just them. The four of them are together every waking moment, mostly because the boys don’t quite get the hang of sleeping, but they wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

“He gets that from you,” Mickey says, more annoyed than joking when Clay is screaming his head off for what feels like hours. But he’s also preoccupied with trying to get Aleks to take a bottle. He’s fighting him and pushing his hand away and it feels way too familiar coming from a Milkovich.

Ian only half hears him over Clay's cries. It’s like he’s afraid he’ll be forgotten and ignored, and he understands that. “Well he's not stubborn because of me," he directs at the other twin.

So they switch, realizing they know far too well how to handle the two. Mickey cuddles Clay close to his chest and tells him he’s not alone. Ian gets Aleks to drink because he knows it’s easier to let something in when it won’t be taken away. It works for them until the twins get used to things, then it gets easier. It gets fun seeing them grow and learn. It happens so fast that before they know it, it’s been a month and the boys know how to smile. Three months and they’re laughing at their goofball of a dad.

Ian turns his head away from the stove quickly and says, “Boo!”

Aleks and Clay erupt into awkward but adorable laughs. The sound is addicting to the point Ian could do that simple thing for hours and never get tired. 

“You’re going to burn our breakfast,” Mickey laughs too when Ian directs one at him. The boys giggle in their highchairs.

“At least they have a sense of humor.” Ian pulls Mickey up from the table and kisses him on the mouth. He holds him close and deepens it before breaking apart and turning to their sons. “Boo!”

They both jump and their little faces say it’s not funny anymore. Clay breaks the seal first with a pouty whimper and his brother follows. Mickey sucks his teeth.

“Oops,” Ian shrugs.

At night, Mickey holds them both and rocks them while Ian reads a story. They’re full of milk, clean from a bath and warm by Mickey’s chest, so it doesn’t take long for them to fall asleep. They put them in the same crib because that’s what all the books say to do with multiples. It’s the best part when they find them snuggled up against each other or their tiny hands touching just like they were still inside Mickey.

And some nights it’s not all about the babies. They make it about them because that’s just as important. The boys are down and safe and won’t wake for hours, and they use all that time to do the things they used to. Mickey climbs on top and flushes with his movements. His hands dig into Ian’s chest, as Ian’s grip his sides. Ian stops thrusting because he opens his eyes and catches his husband in the midst of his ecstasy. His head is back and his eyes closed, his mouth opens and closes; teeth gnawing at his swollen lips. They’ve learned they don’t need to stay absolutely quiet, so Mickey is letting out these amazing hushed sounds.

“So beautiful, Mickey,” Ian breathes, sliding his hands up his waist and over his back, then back down to his ass and squeezing. Mickey stops bouncing and grinds on him, circling his hips. Ian bucks up into his tight heat. “Oh, fuck…yeah, yeah that’s good,” he groans. His hands find Mickey’s stomach and admire his determination to lose the weight, but he also loves the stretch marks left behind from him carrying and giving birth to his children. He surges up and flips them, pinning Mickey beneath him and pounding into him.

“Oh shit, Ian! Yeah, oh fuck….fuck, right there…oh, Ian, don’t stop!” Mickey moans in his ear, scratching at his back and wrapping his legs around Ian.

Ian doesn’t stop. He never stops loving Mickey, not even after they’ve both come and are lazily cuddling and kissing. He doesn’t stop loving him when he makes him get up because Clay is crying. And Mickey loves Ian when he goes to work and leaves him two against one; when he’s too tired to help when he gets home. They fight over things married people fight about, and the twins don’t know, but they try their best to keep it that way as they get older and more observant. They also fight over stupid things like which of them they mean when Aleks and Clay start saying “dada”. Before they know it, the boys start kindergarten and Clay makes Ian stay with him the whole day. It goes on maybe longer than it should because Ian hates to see him cry. They blink and they’ve got the boys in separate classes for the first time. Mickey is the one who cries when he hears they both sneak out to find each other, but they get better at it and make their own friends.

Aleks and Clay are seven when Ian finally hits a dark patch after so many years of being okay. He leaves them at school waiting until almost evening. CPS takes them and Mickey is furious and so scared. Mickey tries his best to explain because they don’t understand why daddy sleeps all the time and won’t talk to them. Aunt Fi and everyone come to visit a lot, playing with them and sometimes taking them to stay for days at a time. Ian cries so much he feels like little Clay in his crib scared to death to be alone. Mickey deals with it all and wants to be strong, but he’s got shit in his head too. Finally he takes Ian to the hospital and Aleks hates him for sending daddy away. It’s a terrible time for all of them.

Ian gets better and they slowly get back to how things were, but there are little cracks in all of them. Clay clings to Ian and Aleks wants to be a lone wolf-cub. Eventually he comes around the older he gets and the more he understands the disorder. He gets very good at taking care of Ian in his highs and lows, and Mickey is grateful. Clay learns to be on his own. At eleven they’re fighting just as much as Ian and Lip did.

“Don’t be such a cry-baby!” Aleks yells, hitting his brother.

“I’m not a baby!”

“Yes you are! All you do is cry. Wah Wah wah!”

Clay gets mad because he does feel the tears, but he pushes Aleks hard so he falls back over a chair. He breaks his wrist catching himself. He’s crying when Mickey finds them, and he rushes him to the clinic. Ian sits them down and punishes them both after talking to each of them about what’s wrong. It turns Mickey on how good a dad Ian is, and he let’s Ian punish him in the laundry room when they’ve both gone to bed early in a huff.

“You guys are gross,” Aleks says over breakfast the next morning.

“I had to put my pillow over my head,” Clay comments, shaking his head of the images his dad’s noises conjured.

Mickey rolls his eyes and sips his coffee, remembering the days when they could lie about what they were doing to each other when they got caught. Ian kisses his neck and grins, sending the boys from the table disgusted by their love. They continue to be annoyed by the idea of it all until they start dating themselves. It’s a surprise to everyone that Clay is the first to get a girlfriend.

They graduate high school and have an entire section loudly rooting for them.  
Mickey and Ian are so proud of them because it’s taken everything to get them there. It’s the night before they both leave for college, Aleks for psychiatry and Clay for social work, and they’re all looking at old albums.

“You guys used to be so cute. What happened?” Ian teases them, showing them a picture of them at three in the bath. They both are looking up with bright blue eyes and dollops of bubbles on their heads.

“How could you even tell us apart?” Clay asks, finding one of them only a week old.

“You were very loud,” Mickey says, remembering those first few nights when he wanted to rip his hair out.

“He still is. Won’t ever shut up,” Aleks shoves his brother’s shoulder; his wrist clicking slightly.

Clay gives it right back. “You shut up. At least I wasn’t a brat.”

“I was not a brat. I’m tougher than you,” Aleks pushes him a little harder. They get into it, rolling around and smacking each other.

“Boys,” Ian warns, realizing he’s going to miss saying that when they’re not around. They stop wrestling and go back to laughing at silly baby pictures. There's ones of them with sleepy eyes and messy curls, there's missing teeth, and birthdays and even some of them as ornery teenagers scowling at the camera. Mickey tells them stories from before they were born and they seem awed by just how much it took for them to even exist. They’ll always be their baby boys no matter what.

“Goodnight.” Mickey kisses them both. Ian hugs them.

"Night, dads," they say in unison.

It’s the middle of the night when Mickey gets up. He finds them curled up next to each other and longs for when they weren’t so big and independent. He goes to the kitchen and starts eating leftover cold pizza. He thinks about all the time that's past and what's to come. He wants everything for them.

“Want some company?” Ian asks, coming out to the kitchen where Mickey is perched up on the counter.

Mickey smiles, pulling him close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading :)
> 
> I'm not crying, you're crying


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